Soarin’ knew this probably wasn’t the best idea. He was already exhausted after spending the entire day rehearsing his routine for next month’s Wonderbolt show. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the night bucking apples but for Applejack he’d battle Tirek himself, much less fatigue.
Tomorrow was Hearts and Hooves Day and he had been looking forward to it for weeks. Sure the holiday was basically nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell more flowers, candy, and other romantic stuff based loosely on an old folktale, but it meant much more to Soarin’. His busy schedule as a Wonderbolt didn’t give him many opportunities to see his girlfriend but this day was an excuse to spend some much needed time with Applejack.
That’s why he was heartbroken when the Wonderbolt’s manager, Skinflint, told him he couldn’t have the day off. Just like that, his vision of a perfect, romantic day with Applejack was shattered and replaced with another monotonous day of doing the same training routine that he’d been doing for the past three weeks. Soarin’ wanted to fight this, to demand this day off, but instead he just accepted it. He always had problems asserting himself with authority figures, even with Spitfire, although she was his ex so that was a whole different level of intimidating. That’s why he was glad AJ had enough assertiveness for the two of them.
Originally, he had actually planned on proposing to her for Hearts and Hooves Day but that obviously wasn’t going to happen now. However, that was probably for the best since he wasn’t sure how to successfully balance life as a family stallion and life as a Wonderbolt, which is why he considered resigning.
As much as Soarin’ hated to admit it, he grew tired of the Wonderbolt’s lifestyle, even before he started seeing Applejack. In fact, one of the more embarrassing moments in his relationship with her was when they first started dating and she admitted that she thought he was at least eight years older than her due to the bags under his eyes. That was when he realized how draining being a bolt had become for him.
There had been several times where Soarin’ came close to quitting, including one time where he scheduled a meeting with Skinflint. However, when he finally met with him he choked and instead told him that he wanted to talk to him about the Wonderbolt uniforms, bluffing his way through an entire conversation.
Deep down he knew that he wanted to marry Applejack and work on the farm but he wasn’t sure he was ready to give up being a bolt just yet. After all, he had been a Wonderbolt ever since he was seventeen years old when a talent scout watched him fly and offered him a spot on the team. It wasn’t easy to quit the Wonderbolts after being with them for so long, so how could he make a commitment to AJ with a job as demanding as his; especially if he couldn’t take the day off to spend with her.
However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have something special planned to make up for his absence.
Soarin’ crept silently across the apple fields until he made it to the barn and flew in through the window. Since the moon was his only source of illumination he had to rely on his sense of touch to find what he was looking for. After wandering around in the dark for about ten minutes, and poking his hoof on the pitchfork four times, he finally found the apple baskets but he was going to have to make multiple trips to get all the baskets he needed.
The baskets were placed underneath the trees but now came the hard part, actually bucking them. Soarin’ did a few practice kick to the tree’s weak point before his hooves finally made contact with a powerful kick, knocking the fruit off the tree and into the basket.
“One down…..” Soarin’ started to count the number of trees he had left to buck but gave up after twenty. “Many more to go.”
The more trees Soarin’ bucked the more his hooves felt like mush. At one point he had to give his hooves a rest by flying, but after a while his wings started to tire too and he was forced to walk again. He would have considered taking a break but the sun was about to come up, and he knew Applejack always got up at the crack of dawn. Thankfully all he had left to do was buck the last tree and then put the basket in place.
Instead of apples falling when Soarin’ kicked the tree, a pain shot through his hooves. His legs trembled as he struggled to keep standing and his breath was heavy, but that wasn’t enough to deter him, only stall him for a brief moment. Once he regained his bearings, he lifted his back legs and put more force to his kick but all that happened was two apples fell from the tree.
“Look tree, you don’t seem to like me and I’m not particularly fond of you at the moment, but we both like AJ and that’s why I’m doing this. Applejack, the mare who helped take care of you so you’d grow big and strong, is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and it’s time I let her know it. So could you please cooperate with me?” Soarin’ pleaded, delusional enough to believe this would actually work.
He took a deep breath and carefully moved his back legs to make sure they were aligned with the tree’s weak spot. Then he kicked with as much power as he could muster, so much so that he actually collapsed immediately afterward. However, he also heard the most wonderful sound in the world, apples falling into a basket. He let out the best triumphant laugh he could muster with what little energy he had and he turned his head and smiled at the tree “Thanks.”
Any strength Soarin’ had in his legs was zapped after that, so he had to rely on his wings to lift himself off the ground. This presented a problem, he knew his hooves couldn’t lift the basket and carry it over to the others, but he had a solution. The blue pegasus lowered himself so that he was hovering just a few inches from the ground, and then he put his head against the basket to push it forward.
An assortment of grunts and groans could be heard from the stallion as he move the basket across the fields with his head. This was giving him a splitting headache, his wings were starting to cramp, and his heart was beating a mile a minute. That would have been enough to break a pony’s spirit, but Soarin’ forced his mind to ignore it and focus on Applejack.
He thought of that amazing laugh of hers, those cute freckles that decorated her face, that beautiful gold silk-like hair. He remembered the last time he visited her around Hearth’s Warming Day and all the fun they had playing in the snow, followed by snuggling close to the fireplace with hot coco. He also thought about how much she was going to enjoy this gift and that thought helped give him the strength to move that last basket into place.
Now that the task he had spent all night working on was finished, Soarin’ finally allowed himself to fall to the ground. Every part of his body ached but the blue pegasus laid there with a happy smile, proud of what he was able to accomplish. He looked to the horizon to see that the sun was starting to rise, meaning that Applejack would get up any minute now and see her gift when she looked out the window. It also meant that he had to be at the Wonderbolt’s training camp in an hour, but no matter how much he willed it he just couldn’t move.
“....Gotta get up…….after a quick nap…..” Soarin’ said to himself as his eye slowly started to close.
Soarin’s head felt funny, as if something was prodding at it, and he wondered if this was caused by his late-night work. He tried to ignore it until it felt like something was pulling on his mane, forcing him to open his eyes to see that a bird had perched itself on top of his head. He gently swatted his hoof in its direction to shoo it away and the bird immediately took off.
Soarin’ stretched his hooves out a little but he soon noticed that there was a blanket draped around him. He took a quick look around to inspect his environment and saw that he was still in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Yer up!” Soarin’ heard the voice of the apple of his eye as she walked up to him. She knelt down in front of him, lifting his head up with her hooves, and then kissed him tenderly.
“Ah love ya too,” Applejack said with a loving expression after their kiss ended.
“I take it you got my message.”
“‘Course Ah did, it was the first thing Ah saw when Ah looked out mah window. Buckin’ all those apples trees and then usin’ the baskets to spell out ‘I love you AJ’ was nothin’ short of amazing. You really are the best boyfriend in all of Equestria,” Applejack told Soarin’, who was blushing slightly.
“Well I had to do something special for the best girlfriend in all of Equestria,” he replied, making her blush too.
“Ah assume you did all of this last night, but how long did it take?” Applejack asked with genuine curiosity.
“The entire night, I finished just as the sun was starting to rise,” he answered,
“Ah thought so, that’s why Ah wasn’t surprised to find ya fast asleep in the fields this mornin’. So Ah got you that blanket and sat here all mornin’ waitin’ fer ya to wake up.” Soarin’s eye grew wide with concern for a brief moment after she explained that.
“Wait, what time is?”
“It’s about 11 o’clock.”
“Oh no, I was supposed to be at the Wonderbolt training camp four hours ago!” Soarin’ was able to go into full panic mode until Applejack put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.
“Yeah, they stopped by here a while ago looking for you. They didn’t seem too happy when they found you and they were gonna wake you but Ah chased them away,” Applejack proudly stated.
“Am I fired?” Soarin’ asked, but AJ quickly removed her hoof from his shoulder, seemingly taken aback by the question.
“No, of course not, all Ah did was point out how you were in no condition fer anythin’ too physical and offered to cater the Wonderbolt’s next show. Ah know Ah can have a bit of a temper at times, but Ah also know how much bein’ a Wonderbolt means to ya and Ah’d never do anythin’ to take that away from ya. It’s just that after the night you had Ah thought you could use a day off to rest.” Soarin’ could detect a little fear in AJ’s voice, so he gave her a loving smile to let her know that his question had no malicious intent.
The blue pegasus was happy to hear that he wasn’t fired, but he almost felt like he should have been. He completely blew off his responsibilities as a Wonderbolt so he could write an elaborate love note to his girlfriend. This experience only confirmed what he already knew, he couldn’t make a commitment to both Applejack and the Wonderbolts. Fortunately he already made his choice last night, he was just realizing that now.
Soarin’ picked himself up off the ground but his legs still felt weak. He tried to walk a few steps but he only took six steps before his legs started to wobble and he struggled to stand upright. Applejack let him lean against her and she draped his hoof around her neck.
“Easy there loverboy. When Ah said ya needed a day to rest Ah meant it. Ah also got the day off too, since ya already did most of my chores, so we can spend the whole day relaxin’ together. Now let’s get ya inside and Ah’ll use some of the apples ya bucked to make a pie,” Applejack said as she led him towards the house.
Soarin’ licked his lips and let out a soft “mmm” at the mention of his favorite dessert. Today was already off to a good start and he couldn’t wait to see what else Applejack had planned. Although first thing tomorrow he needed to go meet with Skinflint to discuss plans for his resignation.
